How do I know my Prius 2008 total loss real value (fire damage pic inside)?

Oof, that's totaled I'd say

Have a look for similar models with similar mileage/condition/etc for sale in your area so you have a ballpark idea of what it's worth. If you think your insurance company is lowballing you, you can show them that their figure is off.

You might be able to retain the cat after the insurance company's finished with the car. We all know what they're worth

 

Sure...Craigslist, cars.com, eBay Motors. Find 5-10 adverts with similar mileage/condition/etc to yours, and find an average price (I just had a quick look, and I can see 2008 Priuses for sale around LA between 4k to 12k, so 5k - 6.5k could be reasonable). Save the ads for later so you have some points of reference if you need to negotiate with the insurance company.

Sorry, by "cat" I mean catalytic converter. They can be worth a bit of money. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it

 

Definitely totaled.

Look at used car ads to see what everybody else's 2008 Prius is selling for. That's what you need to beat out of your insurance company.

 

You have to give the car to insurance. They will offer to sell it back to you at a salvage price- considerably lower than what they pay you for the loss.

You have the option of buying the wreck, removing parts and selling them individually or fixing the car or whatever you like. You may be able to sell those parts for more than the salvage cost paid.

But of course it's possible that the catalyst was just lost in the fire. Darndest thing.

 

When you get a total loss payout the instance company are effectively buying the car from you. i suspect that if you remove parts they will reduce said payout to compensate. Why dont you show them the receipts for the cat and shield an see if they will add that to the payout base value.

 

Hard to say. If you want to present that as being a reasonable replacement price, find a few very similar cars in the 6.5k-7.5k range plus a few outliers on the high and low sides. Then wait to hear from your insurance company after they check out the car.

Yep I'm reading about a lot of catalytic converter thefts these days. It would be a pity if some degenerates took it before the insurance company collected the car

 

Whose insurance is paying for your car's damage? Your auto insurance or building owner's property insurance? Depending on that, the process may be somewhat different. In any case, I would at least ask for a fair market value of the car PLUS contents of the car that got damaged which are not part of the car. An insurance adjustor will give you his/her figure. Don't accept the check until you agree with the numbers they came up.

Sorry for the trouble you have to go through. I hope no one was hurt in the fire. And good luck

 

By replacement price, I mean "what it's going to cost you personally to get in another 2008 Prius touring".

Your insurance company will probably have a different number in mind

Part of the building fell on your car, so your insurance company calls up the building's insurance company and works out who pays what. You aren't involved in this.

Unfortunately, no. Insurance companies exist to pay out as little as possible.

 

I am not an insurance expert, but I think if you have comprehensive coverage on your Auto insurance, then you should claim through your auto insurance. They will cut you a check, but they will go after the building owner's insurance company to recover the cost. If you don't have comprehensive coverage, then the only way to make claim would be direct to the building owner or whoever was responsible for starting the fire.

EDIT: I missed the last part of your opening post. Yeah, you will be going through the GEICO. The adjuster will give you the "fair market value" of the car and present you with a check. You still do have to tell GEICO if there are any items damaged in the car that is not a regular part of the fair market value of the car.

 

They should pay you what they think it was worth the moment before the fire started. That has some relationship to what it would have cost to replace like-for-like but it is not equal, and you will likely have to argue with them for a settlement you'd think of as equal.

The salvage amount would be their idea of what the car is worth, as an undriveable and semi molten problem, right now.

So it's quite possible they'll give you a check for $6-8k, and a chance to buy back the "problem" for $3k. Then it's a question of whether you think you can strip & sell more than $3k worth of parts out of it. Not everyone has the time/space/skill, but it can be a way to get a better recovery out of a situation like this. (these example numbers are just placeholders and should not be taken as estimates for your case)

 

It's different from insurer to insurer but usually the question is "where is the wreck, is it legally allowed to remain there or do we have to tow it to a storage yard with daily fees?"

So if the car is good to sit right where it melted, you can probably keep things in play for weeks. If it needs to be dragged out and dealt with NOW then you have ...less time.